Start with the weather sheet, not the color card
Most people begin a repaint by choosing colors. A better first step is to understand what the outside of the house has to put up with. For Palm Bay, the figures on this page come from NOAA's engineering weather data for the Melbourne station, and they are the station's numbers, not readings taken at your address.
NOAA's engineering weather data for Melbourne lists a 50-year basic wind speed of 140 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 4.5 inches per hour, no frost depth and about one freeze-thaw cycle in an average year. Those are design values that engineers use to size roofs, fasteners and drains. They are not a forecast, and no painter can paint against them. What they can do is point you at the parts of a paint job that matter most when the outside of a house is built for wind and heavy rain rather than for ice.
What the three figures mean for a paint film
Wind. A coating does not hold a house together, but wind finds every weak edge. Loose flashing, a lifted soffit panel or a rattling shutter will chip the paint around it long before the rest of the wall fails. Before anyone paints, those pieces should be fastened again, or the new finish will crack at the same spots.
Heavy rain. Wind-driven rain is pushed sideways into joints: where trim meets the wall, around window frames, at the bottom edge of siding and along any hairline crack. The defense is in the preparation, not the topcoat. Caulk that has split or pulled away should be cut out and replaced, cracks should be opened and filled, and horizontal ledges where water sits should get extra attention.
Hardly any freeze-thaw. With about one freeze-thaw cycle in an average year listed for the station, the familiar northern failure, where water in a crack freezes and pries paint off, plays a small part here. That shifts the focus to water, sun and mildew rather than ice.
Planning an exterior repaint
- Wash first. Dirt, chalk and mildew stop new paint from gripping. A proper wash, with a mildew treatment where the surface is stained, should be written into the proposal, along with how long the walls will be left to dry afterward.
- Watch the clock as well as the sky. Most paint labels set a window between application and the first rain. Ask the crew how they read the day's forecast and what they do if a shower turns up mid-afternoon.
- Fix before you finish. Rotten trim, failed caulk and loose fasteners are cheaper to deal with during a repaint than after.
- Choose the right product class. Our exterior painting page explains the main types of exterior coating and when each one is used.
Inside the house
Interior work is less tied to the weather, but not free of it. Bathrooms, laundry rooms and kitchens need a finish that tolerates moisture and scrubbing, and the sheen you choose changes how a wall cleans and how much it shows patches. Our guide to paint sheens and finishes walks through the trade-offs room by room, and the interior painting page covers ceilings, walls, trim and doors.
Cracks, nail pops and old patches show through new paint unless they are repaired and primed. The drywall repair and surface preparation guide explains what a careful painter does before the first coat goes on.
What Florida's sources say about painters and licensure
Two Florida sources are relevant here, and we quote them as written rather than add to them. Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation lists paint and wallpaper among examples of work that do not require state licensure. Separately, Florida law (Florida Statutes s. 489.117(4)(a)) lists painting among job scopes for which a local government may not require a license.
Neither source says anything about the quality of any particular painter, and we don't check, rate or recommend firms. Painting jobs often sit next to other trades, such as roof, stucco or carpentry repair. If your project includes that kind of work, ask the person bidding it to explain in writing who will do each part.
Questions to put to a painter
- Which surfaces are included, and which are not?
- How will you wash, scrape, sand, caulk and prime, and which products will you use for each step?
- How many coats will go on, and of what?
- How will you decide whether a day is dry enough, and what happens if rain arrives early?
- Can you show me proof of liability coverage before you start?
A written answer to each of these is worth more than a low number at the bottom of a quote. For what drives the price, see our pricing guide.